Paul McDowell is a former Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of

Probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

for

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

. He led

HM Inspectorate of Probation His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) is a statutory body and independent UK inspectorate funded by the Ministry of Justice, formed in 1936. Role and functions HMIP reports to the Secretary of State for Justice on the effectiveness of the ...

(HMIP) from 2014 to 2015, replacing Liz Calderbank. He had been Chief Executive of

Nacro Nacro is a social justice charity based in England and Wales, established in 1966 from the previous National Association of Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Societies, it became the largest criminal justice-related charity in England and Wales. In th ...

and a

Prison Governor The warden ( US, Canada) or governor ( UK, Australia), also known as a superintendent (US, South Asia) or director (UK, New Zealand), is the official who is in charge of a prison. Name In the United States and Canada, warden is the most commo ...

Her Majesty's Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...

Education

McDowell graduated from the University of Central England (now

Birmingham City University Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 and gai ...

) in 1998 with a Diploma in Criminal Justice. He was later awarded a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

and Prison Studies at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was awarded an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from Birmingham City University in 2015.

Career

HM Prison Service

McDowell worked in Her Majesty's Prison Service for nearly 20 years. He was the Governor of

HM Prison Coldingley HM Prison Coldingley is a Category C men's prison, located in the village of Bisley, in Surrey, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Coldingley was opened in 1969 as a Category B training prison. The opening ...

(2003-2006) and then

HM Prison Brixton HM Prison Brixton is a local men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History The prison was originally built in 1820 and opened as ...

(2006-2009). During his three years in charge of Brixton Prison, he developed a violence reduction policy that saw

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

rates halved, and saw progress in challenging attitudes in relation to

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cu ...

that was recognised by the

Commission for Racial Equality The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...

. He had previously been a junior prison governor at

HM Prison Gartree HM Prison Gartree is a Category B men's prison, located in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England. Gartree is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Constructed on the western part of the site which was previously RAF Market Harbo ...

and Deputy Governor at

HM Prison Feltham Feltham Young Offenders Institution (more commonly known as HM Prison Feltham) is a prison for male juveniles and Young Offenders Institution, occupying south-west of Feltham in the London Borough of Hounslow, in west London, England. It is ope ...

, a

young offender institution In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile de ...

. He was due to take over as Governor at

HM Prison Wandsworth HM Prison Wandsworth is a Category B men's prison at Wandsworth in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South West London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service and is one of the largest prisons in the UK. History The prison w ...

when he was approached to work at Nacro.

Nacro

McDowell was the Chief Executive of

, the crime reduction charity, from 2009 to 2014. He introduced significant organisational change, relaunching its business strategy to focus on support service provision for offenders.

HM Inspectorate of Probation

His appointment as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Probation (HMIP) was announced by

Secretary of State for Justice The secretary of state for justice, also referred to as the justice secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Justice. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the Un ...

Chris Grayling Christopher Stephen Grayling (born 1 April 1962) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 to 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament (United King ...

, in November 2013 following approval by the

Justice Select Committee The Justice Select Committee of the United Kingdom is a select committee of the House of Commons which scrutinizes the policy, administration, and spending of the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the committee examines the work of the Law Offi ...

of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

the previous month. He started in the role in February 2014. McDowell resigned as Chief Inspector in February 2016 after it was announced that the company his wife worked for,

Sodexo Justice Services Sodexo Justice Services (formerly United Kingdom Detention Services and Kalyx), a subsidiary of Sodexo, is a private prison operator in the United Kingdom and in several other countries. The company changed its name to Sodexo Justice Services in ...

, was chosen by the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

to run probation services in six local areas from April 2016. As HMIP would be inspecting the company's probation practice it was considered that there was a perceived conflict of interests.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Paul British chief executives Living people Year of birth missing (living people)